


Spectre

by tayryn



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Angst, Canon Related, Character Death, F/M, Older Woman/Younger Man, Post-Skyfall, Romance, SPECTRE Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 01:37:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20715962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tayryn/pseuds/tayryn
Summary: James is haunted by the events at Skyfall.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JustAnotherUnderstudy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAnotherUnderstudy/gifts).

> Tis an odd little fic. I will admit that right from the start.

James made his way across the roof of the SIS building.

He wanted… no, he shook his head, he needed to be alone.

He knew he was running away; knew he was not facing the events of the last few days.

He just wasn’t ready.

He wasn’t sure he ever would be.

It was why he’d slipped out onto the rooftop, the open air appealing to him. And he was pretty certain no one would look for him here.

James stopped.

He wasn’t alone.

He shook his head when he saw who was standing near the building’s edge; he should have known.

A small smile twitched the corner of his mouth as he closed the distance between them, coming to a stop just behind her.

“I should have known you’d know about this spot.”

“Yes, you should have, 007.”

He snorted.

“I hate to waste a view.”

James nodded mutely, even though she couldn’t see him, then stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back against his chest.

“James.”

“I know,” he said. “But what harm is there now?”

She sighed, and laid her hands over his arms. “More than you realize.”

He echoed her sigh, then buried his face in her hair.

“I wasn’t ready,” he murmured.

“I know.”

“It wasn’t supposed to happen that way.”

“No.”

His arms tightened around her. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Yes it is.”

“No, James, it’s not.”

James shook his head. “I should have done more.”

“There was nothing more you could do.”

James sighed.

She leaned back against him, and pulled his arms tighter around her. “Don’t. There is nothing you can do about it now.”

James closed his eyes, and lowered his head, pressing his face into her hair. “I know,” he whispered sadly.

His head came up suddenly, his arms dropping to his sides when he heard footsteps. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the young agent who’d shot him in Istanbul walking toward him, carrying a black rectangular box. 

James closed his eyes again, and took a deep, steadying breath, forcing himself to ignore the emptiness and loss that had enveloped him once again.

“Wow! I didn’t even know you could come up here.”

He opened his eyes. “Hate to waste a view.”

“I can see why.”

James turned to face her. “I thought you were going back out on active service.”

“I declined,” she told him. “You said it yourself, fieldwork’s not for everyone.”

“If it helps, I feel a lot safer.”

The young woman held up a black box. “Her will was read today. She left you this,” she said, holding the box out to him.

James looked down at it; the label hitting him like a knife in the heart.

_‘From the Estate of Olivia Mansfield. Bequeathed to James Bond’_

He took the box and lifted the lid.

The ceramic bulldog sat amongst black tissue paper.

M had left him her bulldog.

Christ, but he hated that thing.

“Maybe it was her way of telling you to take a desk job.”

A hint of a smile played on his lips. “Just the opposite.” He put the lid back on the box, then looked up at the agent. “Thank you.”

She gave him a small smile, then turned and walked away.

James looked back out over the London rooftops.

“The bulldog?” he murmured. “Really?”

She leaned her shoulder against his arm. “You survived. When everything went tits up, you survived. Just like that bloody thing.”

“You didn’t,” he pointed out in a low voice.

“No,” she said softly. “But you did. I need you to continue to survive, James.”

James took a deep breath, then turned to face her. He removed his glove, then reached up to cup her cheek. He brushed his thumb over her lips, nodding slowly. “For you, Olivia.”

Olivia smiled, then slowly faded away.

James ignored the tear that slipped down his cheek.

“For you.”


	2. Chapter 2

James stared out the window, watching Eve walk away from his flat.

“Eve’s right, of course. You do have a secret.”

A soft snort escaped him. 

Yes, he had one hell of a secret.

He kept seeing their former boss.

Not only seeing her, but having conversations with her.

And feeling her touch, James thought, closing his eyes.

It made no sense to him, and yet - he opened his eyes, and turned away from the window to find her sitting on his sofa, her feet curled up beneath her, wearing one of his favourite power suits – he found he liked it. He liked having her always with him.

If only…

“James, don’t.”

He sighed.

“I’m going to change,” he muttered, then walked out of the room.

Ten minutes later, wearing his pyjamas and a robe, James wandered back into his living room.

Olivia was still seated on his sofa, only now she was wearing pyjamas, and like him, wrapped in a dressing gown. The same blue one she’d been wearing in the video.

_“If something should happen to me…”_

James shook his head as he sat on the sofa.

He felt her hand on his knee, and closed his eyes.

“I told you not to blame yourself.”

“It’s hard not to,” he replied. “You’d still be here if I’d --”

“If you’d what?”

James flopped back against the sofa, with an exasperated huff. “I don’t know! Something. Anything. I just want you here.”

“I am here.”

He rolled his head to look at her.

“I want you alive.”

She lifted her hand from his knee and cupped his cheek. “I know. I’m sorry,” she said softly, stroking her thumb over his lips.

It was in these moments; James knew she was nothing more than a figment of his imagination. M would never have touched him like this, or looked at him in that way that made his stomach flip, and his cock twitch.

“It doesn’t mean I did not long to do so.”

James stared at her for several moments more, then sat up and reached for the box Eve had brought him containing the personal effects from Skyfall. He was curious as to what these personal effects could possibly be. He hadn’t thought there was anything of the sort at his childhood home.

“Do you know what’s in here?” he asked.

“No.”

James glanced at her.

She held her hands up. “Honest, James. I have no clue.”

He shrugged, then opened the box.


	3. Chapter 3

James slipped out of the small bed, careful to not wake the woman sleeping beside him. He quickly pulled on his clothes, then quietly left the cabin.

He wandered through the train, eventually finding himself back in the supply carriage. Glancing around, he could still see the signs of his fight with Hinx.

James leaned back against one of the crates with a deep sigh, and scrubbed his hand over his face, suddenly wishing he could erase the last hour from his life.

He shouldn’t have done it. He shouldn’t have slept with Madeleine.

“Why not? Unless it was more than just sex this time?”

“It was just sex.”

“Fueled by the adrenaline from your tussle with that goon, Hinx.”

“Yes.”

“So why beat yourself up over it?”

James opened his eyes, and turned to find Olivia sitting on the crate beside him. She was watching him with a curious expression her face. 

“Because, I shouldn’t have done it. Let’s just leave it at that. It happened. It’s over and done with.”

“So, I repeat, why beat yourself up over it?”

James sighed.

There were several reasons he should not have had sex with Madeleine.

“And they are?” Olivia asked.

James scowled. He hated when she did that.

“She’s too young for one thing.”

“That’s not stopped you before.”

“True.”

“And the other reasons, James?”

James met her gaze head on, then answered, “Because you were there to witness it.”

She held his gaze for several moments, then turned away. “No. I wasn’t.”

It was uttered so softly; James had almost missed it. “M?”

She stared down at her hands, which were clasped on her lap, and shook her head.

The expression on her face, the sadness he could see in her eyes, stopped him from pushing her for an explanation. 

He knew why she’d been absent.

He knew and he understood.

“The real reason I shouldn’t have had sex with Madeleine,” James said, softly, “is because she isn’t who I want.”

She reached out to cradle his cheek. “I know.”


	4. Chapter 4

Franz leaned over James after informing him of his new nom de plume, and brushed his finger against James’ left temple. “If the needle finds the correct spot in the fusiform gyrus, you recognize no one,” Franz chuckled. “Of course, the faces of your women are interchangeable, aren’t they, James?” He finished, chuckling again.

“Don’t listen to him, James.”

James glanced to his left, and saw Olivia standing next to Franz. 

“You won’t know who she is,” Franz continued. “Just another passing face on your way to the grave.”

James knew Franz was speaking about Madeleine, but James’ attention was focussed on Olivia. There would never be a time he wouldn’t know who she is. She was a part of him.

“That’s right. Just stay focussed on me, James.” Olivia ran her fingers through his hair. “And keep working on removing your watch.”

Franz turned away, lifting his cat from James’ lap. “He dies, not knowing who you are,” he said to Madeleine, as he walked over to the control panel. “The daughter of an assassin; the only one who could have understood him.” He began pressing buttons. “Shame.”

James stared up at Olivia. 

Franz could not have been more wrong, he thought. The only woman who had ever truly understood him was standing next to him, holding his gaze steadily.

James heard the arms on the machine he was strapped to move into place, one on either side of his head.

The needles began to spin, and seconds later, they pierced his temples.

James’ screams rang in his ears as Franz’ needle drilled into his skull.

Stealing his memories.

That had been the taunt; the promise.

In Franz’s mind, James had stolen everything from him, so now, he would steal everything from James. 

After what felt like an eternity, the needles stopped and slid out of his temples.

“James…” He heard Olivia whisper his name, and then suddenly Madeleine was there, leaning over him. 

She lifted her hand to cradle the side of his face. “I love you.”

“Do those blue eyes still recognize you?” Franz asked.

James’ eyes met Olivia’s gaze over Madeleine’s shoulder. “I’d recognize you anywhere.”

Olivia smiled at him. “Give her the watch, James.”

“The watch,” he whispered to Madeleine, as he set the timer.

Madeleine lowered her head and kissed him, reaching down beneath the chair to take the watch from James’ hand.

“One minute,” he told her.

“Did he say something?” Franz asked, as Madeleine straightened up.

“Tempus fugit.”

“What?”

“Tempus fugit,” James repeated.

“I can’t hear you, James,” Franz said, pushing the controls to activate the needles once more.

James glanced at Olivia. She nodded. “I said, doesn’t time fly?” he said loudly, as the needles moved around in front of James’ face.

Madeleine chose that moment to toss James’ watch across the floor. It slid beneath Franz’s console.

A few beeps sounded, and seconds later, the watch exploded, shattering the console, and sending Franz flying backwards to land with a thud on the floor.

The restraints holding James in place suddenly snapped open, releasing him.

James tumbled out of the chair, and with Madeleine’s assistance, he got to his feet.

“Run, James!” Olivia shouted.

Grabbing Madeleine’s hand, they ran from the room.

They ran down the glass corridor Franz had led them through earlier, James using the door to knock out the guard. He picked up the automatic rifle, and shot another guard.

“Behind you, James!” Olivia shouted.

James glanced back over his shoulder as he swung the gun around and fired; shooting another of Franz’s henchmen.

He and Madeleine ran several more feet, then ducked into a doorway.

“Now!” Olivia told him.

James jumped out, fired the gun, killing two more guards, before ducking back inside the doorway. He looked at Olivia, and when she nodded, he stepped out again, gun raised. He pulled the trigger, shooting the valve off a tank, triggering a massive explosion.

He grabbed Madeleine’s hand, and they made their way toward the helio-pad; James shooting more of Franz’s men as they went.

They’d just reached the top of the pad, when the whole complex blew up.

James turned, and found himself looking at both Madeleine and Olivia.

“It’s not over.”

“No, it’s not,” Olivia replied.


	5. Chapter 5

James stared at Blofeld through the security glass.

“Why are we here? Did you miss me?”

“No.” Blofeld exhaled on the glass, then reached up to draw a heart in the steam. “But I know someone who does.”

“Christ!” Olivia swore, echoing James’ thoughts. Blofeld had Madeleine. “You can’t leave her here, James. She did not ask to be involved in this.”

He knew she was right.

“Where is she?” he asked Blofeld.

“That’s for you to find out.” He stepped back from the glass, then turned and walked over to the wall behind him.

That’s when James noticed the timer on the wall connected to the primacord that was set to demolish Six’s old headquarters.

Blofeld turned it on.

“In three minutes, this building will be demolished.”

James glanced away, looking up.

“Oh, I can get out easily,” Blofeld told him. “But you have a choice. Die trying to save her, or save yourself and live with the pain.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“Am I?”

They stared at each other. 

Seconds later, Blofeld laughed, moving to stand on the other side of the timer. “I’ve really put you through it, haven’t I? Well, that’s brothers for you.”

James continued to stare at him.

“They always know which buttons to press.” Blofeld reached up and pressed the button to begin the countdown, then ducked through the door beside him.

James bolted.

He had to find Madeleine. Olivia was right; she was merely a pawn in Franz’s game, and did not deserve to die.

Making his way out of the holding cells, he stopped and looked up through the holes in the building.

“MADALEINE!” he shouted. 

Where could she be? Where would Blofeld have put her?

“James,” Olivia said pointedly in a soft voice.

He nodded. 

Yes.

That made sense.

He took off again, heading for the upper levels.

A minute later, he reached his destination.

M’s office.

“Madeleine!” he called out again, as he hurried into the old office. “Madeleine!”

James stopped in front the gaping hole of what used to be the large windows of M’s office, staring out into the night sky at the helicopter hovering over the Thames.

Franz.

He stared at the aircraft; at Franz.

He knew the other man was privately gloating.

“He won’t win, James.”

“No. He won’t.”

He heard a muffled sound from behind the door of what used to be a closet, and hurried over to it, tucking his gun in the back of his trousers. Prying the door open, he found Madeleine bound and tied to a chair, surrounded by more primacord, another timer on the wall behind her.

There was less than a minute left before the building went up.

“Hurry, James,” Olivia told him.

He nodded as he cut the ropes securing Madeleine’s hands. She removed the gag as James cut the ropes around her ankles.

Once freed, he helped her up and out of the closet.

“There’s no time, James,” Olivia told him, pointing to the large hole in the floor. “You need to jump. The nets will catch you.”

He nodded again to let Olivia know he’d heard her, and lead Madeleine to the edge.

“Do you trust me?” James said to Madeleine.

“Do I have any choice?”

James scooped her up into his arms. “Not anymore.”

“James! Jump!”

James jumped.


	6. Chapter 6

James fired at the fleeing helicopter, trusting Madeleine to keep the speedboat on course.

Each shot impacted the chopper, but did little damage.

Fuck! he swore to himself, raising his gun once more. He took a deep breath, aimed, then pulled the trigger.

His aim was true, and he hit the vital part he was aiming for, and the helicopter began to lose control and altitude.

James stepped back over to the wheel, and took over driving the boat.

He kept his eyes on the now damaged chopper as it veered toward Westminster Bridge. Moments later, it crashed through the guard rail. With a loud screech of metal it slid across the pavement, crashing into the guard rail on the opposite side of the bridge. 

James brought the boat in alongside the jetty, then handed the steering wheel over to Madeleine, and jumped off. He ran up the steps leading to the bridge, then strode across the bridge toward the burning, mangled mass that was the chopper.

He spotted Blofed dragging himself along the pavement, trying to put some distance between him and the helicopter.

James stopped.

Blofeld looked up at him.

He held his gun on Blofeld… on Franz.

“Finish it,” Franz wheezed, glaring up at him.

James stared at the other man.

“James.”

He looked up to see Olivia standing a few feet away, and over her shoulder he could see Madeleine at the end of the bridge.

“James,” Olivia said softly again. “He’s not worth it. Let Six deal with him.”

James met her eyes, then turned away to look down at Franz, who was still glaring up at him.

His eyes narrowed, and then he pulled the trigger.

A soft click sounded.

“Out of bullets,” James said, with a shrug, ejecting the gun’s clip; holding up both parts for Franz to see.

He dropped the gun and clip, both pieces clanking on the pavement, then turned away.

Olivia smiled at him. “You can have a life now,” she told him, gesturing to the young woman waiting further back on the bridge.

James shook his head. “No,” he murmured. “I --”

“JAMES! WATCH OUT!” Olivia suddenly cried out.

A gunshot cracked the air, and James pitched forward as the bullet caught him in the shoulder. Another shot was fired, this one hitting him in the middle of his back. He stumbled, then fell to his knees.

“James!” He heard Madeleine scream.

Glancing back, he saw Franz grinning maniacally at him, a gun in his hand.

Several more gunshots followed, and James watched the life go out of his one-time, almost brother’s remaining eye.

He turned his head to find Mallory standing six feet away, holding a smoking Walther in his hand. Behind him, James could see Madeleine rushing toward him.

“At least you’re a better shot than the last M,” James wheezed, then crumpled to the ground with a groan, his eyes closing against the pain.

“James.”

He opened his eyes at the soft call of his name to find Olivia standing before him, her hand held out to him.

“Olivia…?” 

She smiled.

“James! Oh, mon dieu!” Madeleine dropped to her knees beside him, and gathered him into her arms. 

“We can be together now?” he asked, still staring up at Olivia.

“If it’s what you want, yes.”

“Oh, James, of course we can,” Madeleine told him, smoothing her hand over his brow.

He shook his head, then groaned as the pain from the gunshots grew worse. 

“Where are the medics?” Madeleine cried out. “He’s slipping away!”

“It’s your choice, James.”

James reached out, his fingers curling around hers. “You,” he whispered. “I choose you.”

“Yes, James! Stay with me!” Madeleine pleaded.

“Olivia…” James murmured, as she held tight to his hand, and helped him to stand.

He grinned at her as the pain stopped instantly.

“NO!”

James looked down just in time to see his body go limp. He watched Mallory reach over to place his fingers against artery in his neck, then hung his head.

“I’m sorry,” Mallory said.

“Who… who is Olivia?”

Mallory raised his head and met the young doctor’s tear-filled face. “Olivia was my predecessor.”

“Your pred… M,” she realized.

“Yes.”

“His beloved M,” she whispered.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Blofeld, when he was holding us, was taunting James with the deaths of all the women he’d loved. He called her James’ ‘beloved M’.”

“I see.”

“She was like a mother to him, non?” Madeleine asked.

Mallory shrugged. “I honestly cannot say. There was a connection between them. What that connection was is anyone’s guess.”

“Love,” James said, reaching up to cup Olivia’s cheek.

He inhaled sharply.

While he’d been able to touch her before, it felt different now. More real somehow.

“Yes,” Olivia agreed, covering his hand with hers, holding it against her cheek.

“So what happens now?”

“What do you want to happen?”

A large grin slowly spread across his face as he held her gaze.

Moments later, an echoing smile formed on hers.

“Yes,” Olivia murmured. “I would very much like to make love with you.”

Slipping his fingers into her hair, he gently pulled her closer, then ducked his head.

His lips brushed over hers several times before finally settling over them, his tongue pressing for entrance. Her lips parted, her tongue darting out to meet his, before drawing it into her mouth to tangle with hers.

James raised his other hand to cradle the side of her face as Olivia wrapped her arms around him, and pressed her body closer to his.

They moaned as the kiss deepened.

James felt dizzy, lost in a rush of sensation and emotion.

Olivia. 

He was kissing Olivia.

Finally.

He’d kissed hundreds of women over the years, but never had a simple kiss affected him so profoundly.

James broke off the kiss, and still cradling her face in his hands, he smiled down at her.

“I love you,” he told her in a voice rough with emotion.

“I know,” Olivia replied in a soft voice. “I love you, too.”

James bowed his head, resting his forehead against hers.

For the first time he could remember, James felt whole. As if sensing his thoughts, Olivia shifted against him, pressing even closer, as if trying to merge their bodies.

“I feel the same way,” she whispered, her warm breath ghosting over his lips.

James smiled.

“Let’s go, James.”

He raised his head, then glanced down at his lifeless body, held in the arms of a still crying Madeleine.

“Sir?”

James looked up at the sound of Tanner’s voice to find him, Eve, and Q standing there with shocked expressions on their faces.

“Is he…?”

“I’m afraid so, Bill,” Mallory answered, followed by a loud sob from Madeleine. 

“I can’t believe it,” Eve said softly.

Bill closed his eyes.

“They’ll be all right,” Olivia told him, squeezing him gently. “It’s our time now.”

He turned back to Olivia and nodded. “Yes it is.”

He ducked his head to kiss her, then moved out of her arms, and held out his hand.

Olivia smiled, and placed her hand in his, lacing their fingers together.

Without another word, they began walking away, heading for the end of the bridge.

“Sir.” Tanner nudged Mallory’s shoulder, then gestured with his head. “Is that…?”

Mallory followed Tanner’s gaze.

Two shadowy figures disappeared into the fog.

Mallory turned to Tanner. “I think so, Bill.”

Tanner smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you it was an odd little story.


End file.
